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Bullying and Its' Relationship with Depression among Teenagers

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DOI: 10.1080/09764224.2010.11885441

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© Kamla-Raj 2010 J Psychology, 1 (1): 15-22 (2010)

Bullying and Its’ Relationship with Depression among Teenagers

Ikechukwu Uba, Siti Nor Yaacob and Rumaya Juhari

Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Faculty of Human Ecology,

University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM, Malaysia

KEYWORDS Bullying. Relationship. Teenage Depression

ABSTRACT The current study examined the relationship between bullying and depression among teenagers. The
participants of the study were 242 teenagers (119 males and 123 females) aged between 13 and 17 years selected secondary
schools in Selangor, Malaysia (mean age = 14.67 years; SD = 1.27).Teenage depression was measured with from Children
Depression Inventory (CDI), while bullying was measured with the bullying subscale of the Peer Relationship Questionnaire
(PRQ). The study found a positive and significant correlation between bullying and teenage depression (r = .296, p <.01),
significant gender difference between males and females (t = 3.306, p < .05) in bullying and a non- significant difference
in depression between male and female teenagers (t = .498, p > .05). The result of the study provides confirmation to
earlier findings on the relationship between bullying and depression. Recommendations of the study centre on the need to
examine the report from family members and peers of teenage bullies.

INTRODUCTION fight back, while claiming they did so in self de-

Numerous scholars has attempted to define
the term bullying among teenagers (Haynie et
al. 2001; Nansel et al. 2001; Olweus 2001;
Rigby 2001; Saylor et al. 2001; Flynt and Morton
2004; Grennan and Wood hams 2007). The term
bullying was defined as a systematic and repe-
ated type of aggression involving peers that was
associated with a range of psychosocial problems
which includes low self esteem, acceptance of
antisocial behaviour and delinquency. Flynt and
Morton (2004) described a bully as a blustering
and badgering person, one who was cruel to
others, particularly to those who are weak. In
the view of Grennan and Woodhams (2007) a
teenager can only attest that he or she was bullied
when they are victims of both direct and indirect
bullying which happens on a weekly basis, by
the same person or different perpetrator(s).
Van der wal et al. (2003) identified four types
of bullies, which are: (1) Physical bullies, (2)
Verbal bullies, (3) Relational bullies, and (4)
Reactive bullies. Physical bullies are the type
that uses direct behaviours such as biting and
kicking. Essentially these are the most common
type of bullies and studies reveal that these types
of bullies are mostly male teenagers (Van der
wal et al. 2003). Verbal bullies are bullies who
use words to humiliate their peers, these types
of bullies are mostly found among females.
Relational bullies are bullies that convince their
peer to exclude certain teenagers from their
group. Reactive bullies taunt other teenagers into
fighting with them. They are equally known to
fense (Smokowski and Kopasz 2005).
In the case of Malaysia, despite the growing
international interest in bullying among teen-
agers, empirical research in the country has been
sparse. Only a handful of studies have been car-
ried out to determine the incidence of bullying
in the country (Lee et al. 2007; Uba et al. 2009;
Wan et al. 2009).
One such study by Yaakub and Leong (2007)
investigated violence in Malaysian schools by
highlighting one of the appalling incidents of
bullying that stunned the nation; the brutal killing
of a 16-year-old student by his school seniors in
2005. The above incident raised public concern
over violence in Malaysian schools, and the
destructive role bullying plays among teenagers
in Malaysia.
Baldry (2004) discovered that a high pro-
portion of teenagers, reported bullying others,
either directly or indirectly. The study revealed
that boys bullied others more by using overt
means. Baldry also found that boys reported
spreading rumors more than girls. To corro-
borate the findings, Ivarsson et al. (2005) also
discovered more male adolescents bullied others
more than their female counterparts. On the other
hand, teenagers who were victims only were
found to have psychiatric symptoms and
functioned less well (Ivarsson et al. 2005).
Earlier and more recent studies have found
bullying to be significantly related to depression
(Kumpulainen et al. 200l; Kowalski 2003; Van
der wal et al. 2003; Ivarsson et al. 2005; Li
2006). Van der wal et al. (2003) asserted that
16 IKECHUKWU UBA, SITI NOR YAACOB AND RUMAYA JUHARI
direct bullying has significant effect on depres-
sion and suicidal ideation in girls (aged 9 to 13),
but not in boys. More so, the scholars found that
direct bullies were at greater risk for delinquent
behavior than indirect bullies. In line with the
study by Van der wal et al. (2003), Rose and
Rudolph (2006) revealed that boys may find
physical bullying more hurtful because of well-
defined social hierarchies and mainly because it
tended more towards social dominance. These
findings reveal why more males are involved in
delinquent behaviour compared to their female
counterparts. The major conclusion is that the
association between bullying and depression
differs notably between girls and boys as well
as between direct and indirect forms of bullying
(Van der wal et al. 2003; Baldry 2004).
Also, studies conducted in the last three
decades in the United States of America on the
epidemiology of depression found that bullying
among teenagers poses a threat to healthy teen-
age development and a potential cause of viol-
ence among teenagers (Smokowski and Kopasz
2005). Studies also reveal that most bullies have
positive attitudes towards violence, particularly
as a means of solving problems or getting what
they want (Carney and Merrell 2001). These
groups of teenagers use bullying behavior to gain
or maintain dominance and therefore lack sense
of empathy for their victims (Beale 2001).
Nansel et al. (2001) indicated that bullies
were more likely to be involved with problem
behaviours such as drinking and smoking as
compared to non bullies. In agreement with the
above scholar, recently emerging studies further
suggest that bullying has serious long-term
negative effects on bullies (Smokowski and
Kopasz 2005). These negative effects are also
suffered by former victims of teenage bullying,
who turn to bullying other teenagers, as a form
of coping strategy (Smokowski and Kopasz
2005). Grennan and Woodhams (2007) found
that bullies were more depressed than teenagers
who were not involved in bullying. In a study
conducted by the duo which investigated
involvement in bullying, psychological distress,
and coping strategies among 99 male teenage
offenders living in reformatory home in the U.S.
over 60% of teenagers in the reformatory home
were involved in bullying.
In another study conducted by Kumpulainen
et al. (200l) in the U.S nearly one third of bullies
had attention-deficit disorder, 12.5% had depre-
ssion and another 12.5% had oppositional cond-
uct disorder. The study therefore suggested that
bullies equally experience varying degrees of
psychosocial problems. Bullying has been vie-
wed as a stressful event which could negatively
impact on those involved (Hunter and Boyle
2002). Available data indicate that approx-
imately 160,000 school-aged children in the U.S
occasionally stay away from school to avoid
maltreatment at the hands of their peers
(Kowalski 2003). The negative effects of bul-
lying are also suffered by former victims of
teenage bullying, who turn to bullying other
teenagers, as a form of coping strategy. Grennan
and Woodhams (2007) found that bullies and
their victims were significantly more depressed
than teenagers who were not involved in bull-
ying. The study thus concluded that being a bully
or a victim was a significant predictor of depres-
sion among teenagers.
In the view of Stark et al.(2008) depression
is caused by disturbances in cognitive, interper-
sonal, neuro-chemical and environmental funct-
ioning, as well as deficits in critical emotion reg-
ulation skills. Depression deals a fatal blow to
suffers, however most teenagers emerge from
this turbulent period unscathed by depression
or anxiety, but there are also a significant number
who are affected, and, unfortunately, they often
go undiagnosed in medical care (Karnani and
Pomm 2006). Generally, every teenager occasi-
onally feels depressed, but these feelings are usu-
ally momentary and suppress within some days,
however depressive disorder interferes with
daily life, normal functioning and causes pain
for both the person with the disorder and those
who care about him or her (National Institute of
Mental Health 2009)
According to Soresi Nota and Ferrari (2005),
childhood and adolescent depression must not
be underestimated, as it is associated with dys-
thymic and anxiety disorders, severe behavioral
disorders, and substance abuse. Research has
also shown that teenage depression often
persists, recurs and continues into adulthood,
especially if it goes untreated (Kovac 1996).
Recent longitudinal studies that examined
teenagers in their late adolescence found gender
difference in the occurrence of depression amo-
ng teenagers, with female teenagers reported as
more depressed (Maag and Irvin 2005; Abadu
et al. 2008). In variance with the above studies,
other longitudinal studies conducted in the 80’s
BULLING AND IT’S RELATIONSHIP
among early adolescents indicated that male
teenagers reported more depression than their
female counterparts (Bartell and Reynolds 1986;
Smucker et al. 1986; Huntley et al. 1987).
However, cross sectional studies conducted on
the prevalence of depression among teenagers
found no gender differences (Nolen-Hoeksema
1994; Willkins-Shurmer et al. 2003). Essentially
variations in the findings of the scholars whose
works were reviewed can be attributed to the
method of study adopted and the period of
adolescence (early or late) examined.
A depressed adolescent has a greater history
of suicide attempts, delirium, including sleep and
eating disorders (Soresi, Nota and Ferrari
2005).The deep agony and hopelessness
associated with depression can make a depressed
teenager feel suicide was the only way to ease
the anguish. Therefore the three major aims of
this study are: (a) to describe the background of
the respondents (b) to determine the differences
in bullying and depression between male and
female teenagers(c) to determine the relationship
between bullying and teenage depression.
METHODOLOGY
Location
The current study is a part of a larger study
titled “Personal Vulnerability and Socio-Env-
ironmental Factors in Teenage Depression”
which examined salient risk factors in the predi-
ction of teenage depression (Siti Nor et al. 2009).
The present study focused mainly on the effect
of bullying on teenage depression and utilized
data from selected daily secondary schools in
Selangor, Malaysia.
Participants/Respondents of the Study
The respondents of the study comprised of
teenagers from rural and urban daily secondary
schools in Selangor, Malaysia. The sample for
the state (Selangor) was estimated at 280
respondents. A sampling frame was made for the
study comprising of all daily secondary schools
in Selangor, Malaysia. From the daily secondary
schools, two schools were randomly selected
from the rural areas of Selangor, while three
schools were selected from the urban areas of
the state. The total number of schools sampled
for the current study amounted to five schools
17
from the state. Within the schools, data for the
study was collected using the cluster sampling
technique. However, due to missing data for
variables of interest, 38 of the questionnaires
were rendered void. Hence, the participants of
the study were reduced to 242, which amounted
to a response rate of 86.4%. The size of the
sample assumed a proportion of .5 (maximum
variability), with a 95% confidence level and 3%
precision.
Instrumentation
Each questionnaire booklet contained a
number of validated scales and demographic
questions. Respondents were asked to provide
details of their age, gender, location (rural or
urban) and the household income of their
families.
Depression
Depression was measured with the Children
Depression Inventory (Kovac 1985) designed
for the screening of depressive symptoms in
children and teenagers between the ages of 13-
17years. The scale consists of 27 items, scored
on a 3-point scale ranging from 0 = once in
awhile, 1 = many times, and 2 = all the time.
Examples of questions include “I am sad”,
“Nothing will ever work out for me”, “I do
everything wrong”. Participants were asked to
choose one sentence from each group that best
described them for the past two weeks. Items
were summed and used to reflect depressive
symptoms (from 0 to 54). According to Kovac
(1983), the CDI has acceptable internal
consistency, with a Cronbach alpha coefficient
of .71 and has been used with a number of
samples both clinical and non clinical. In the
current study, the Cronbach alpha was .78.
Bullying
Bullying was measured using the bully
subscale of the Peer Relationship Questionnaire
(Rigley and Slee 1993). The PRQ is a self-report
questionnaire used to measure bullying,
victimization and pro-social behaviour among
children between the ages of 12 to 18 year. The
bully scale consist of 6 items scored on a 4-point
scale, ranging from 1=Never, 2= Once in a while,
3= Pretty often, and 4= Very often. The PRQ
18 IKECHUKWU UBA, SITI NOR YAACOB AND RUMAYA JUHARI

contains three subscales which include: bully income households earning below RM800 a
scale with 6 items measuring the tendency to month (Table 2).
bully others (e. g., I give soft kids a hard time. I
like to show others that I’m the boss. I like to Table 1: Personal profile of respondents (N=242)
make others scared of me). Items were summed Variables n (%)
and used to determine bully (6 to 24). In this Age
study the internal consistence of the bully scale 13 years 60 (24.79)
was found to be acceptable (Cronbach alpha = 14 years 68 (28.10)
.78). 15 years 5 (02.07)
16 years 109 (45.04)
Gender
Data Analyses Male 119 (49.17)
Female 123 (50.83)
SPSS programme was used to analyze the Ethnic Groups
data. Descriptive statistics was used to describe Malay 215 (88.84)
the background information of the respondents Chinese 10 (04.13)
India 15 (06.20)
and the main variables of the study. Pearson Others 2 (00.83)
correlation was used to examine the association Religion
between bullying and depression. Independent Islam 216 (89.30)
sample t-test was used to examine gender differe- Christian 5 (02.10)
nces in bullying and depression. Buddhist 6 (02.50)
Hindu 12 (04.96)
RESULTS Others 3 (01.23)
School Location
Urban 117 (48.35)
The participants for the current study range Rural 125 (51.65)
in age from 13 to 16 years (M=14.67 years, S.D Birth Order
= 1.27), which comprise of 49.2 % male, and ≤2 114 (47.11)
50.8% female. Majority of the participants were 3-4 78 (32.23)
Malays (88.8%) and Muslims (89.3%), and ≥5 50 (20.66)
51.7% of whom were from rural schools. About Number of Siblings
≤3 84 (34.71)
47% of the respondents were either first or 4-5 95 (39.26)
second child in their family. While the mean ≥6 63 (26.03)
number of children par household examined in
the study was 4.47. This implied that most of
the respondents had between four to five siblings Table 3 indicated that 50.8% of the total
in their family (Table 1). teenage respondents of the study reported they
were not bullies, as against 49.2% who are found
In response to the question which necessitated to be bullies. Of the 119 who were bullies, 56.3%
the teenage respondents to state who they lived were males, while 43.7% were females. Also,
with, about 90% of the total respondents live of the 119 of the teenagers who were bullies,
with their biological father and mother. Based 42.1% were from urban schools, while 57.9%
on table 2, a large proportion (25.3%) of the were from rural schools. Besides, about 81.5%
fathers has non-formal education, while about of bullies were from households with monthly
22.3% of the mothers have non-formal educa- income less than RM 4,360, while only 18.5%
tion. The implication was that a slightly higher of teenagers from households with monthly
number of the mothers compared with fathers income above RM 4,360 were bullies.
have formal education. However, a higher In line with table 3, majority (87.2%) of the
number of fathers (7.9%) have Bachelors respondents of the study indicated they were not
compared to 2.8% of mothers. On the whole, a depressed and only 12.8% of the sample was
slightly higher number of mothers (77.7%) as found to be depressed. Of the 31 that admitted
against fathers (74.8%) have formal education. to being depressed, 45.2% were males, while
About 63.05% of mothers as against 2.87% of 54.8% were females. About 35.5% of the
fathers were unemployed. Only 36.95% of teenagers were from urban schools, while 64.5%
mothers as against 97.13% fathers were emp- were from rural schools. In addition, about
loyed. Majority of the teenager were from low 77.4% of the teenagers found to be depressed
BULLING AND IT’S RELATIONSHIP 19

Table 2: Family profile of respondents (N= 242) a positive and small correlation between bullying
Variables n (%) and teenage depression (r = .296, p <.01) with
With Whom They Live high levels of bullying associated with high
Biological father and mother 210 (86.78) levels of depression (Table 4).
Biological mother and step father 5 (2.07)
Biological father and step mother 3 (1.24) Table 4: Relationship between bullying and depression
Mother/father only 16 (6.61)
Others 8 (3.30) Variables Teenage Bullying
Marital Status of Parents depression
Married 221 (91.32) Teenage 1
Divorced 9 (3.72) Depression
Widower 12 (4.96) Bullying 0.296(**) 1
Fathers Education (n=202)
Standard six 19 (9.41) ** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
Form three 10 (4.95)
Form five 43 (21.29)
Form six 13 (6.44) The study further discovered significant
College/ institute 29 (14.35) difference (t = 3.306, p < .05) in bullying scores
Bachelor degree 16 (7.92) for males (M=10.11, SD = 3.614) and females,
Masters degree/PhD. 21 (10.39)
Others 51 (25.25) (M = 8.75, SD = 2.712). Comparing the eta-
Mothers Education (n=211) square value obtained (η2 = .04), the effect size
Standard six 23 (10.90) of .04 was considered small (mean difference =
Form three 21 (9.95) 1.361, 95% CI: .550 to 2.173). The result further
Form five 57 (27.01)
Form six 10 (4.74) revealed the independent-sample t-test cond-
College/ institute 32 (15.17) ucted to compare depression scores for males
Bachelor degree 6 (2.84) and females. The two means suggested that there
Masters degree/PhD. 15 (7.12)
Others 47 (22.27) was no significant difference 129 (t = .498, p >
Fathers Occupation (n=174) .05) in depression scores for males (M=13.49,
Unemployed 5 (2.87) SD = 5.781) and females (M = 13.11, SD =
Employed 169 (97.13)
Mothers Occupation (n=203) 6.129) (Table 5).
Unemployed 128 (63.05)
Employed 75 (36.95) DISCUSSION
Monthly Household Income (RM) (n=171)
Very low (≤ 800) 39 (22.81)
Low (801 – 1300) 31 (18.13) The findings of the study illustrated that
Medium (1301 – 3000) 38 (22.22) males were more involved in bullying, in compa-
High (3001 – 7000) 29 (16.96) rison to their female counterparts. Interestingly
Very High (≥ 7001) 34 (19.88) majority of these male bullies were from rural
schools and families with low income. The cur-
were from households that earn below RM 4,360 rent study therefore revealed that the socio-
per month. Only about 22.6% of the teenagers
from high income households were found to be economic background of a teenager may contrib-
depressed. ute immensely in turning a teenager into a bully.
The present finding on bullying among teenagers
Relationship between Bullying and was consistent with the study conducted by
Depression Yaakub et al. (2008) in Malaysia and with other
studies (Van der wal et al. 2003; Baldry 2004;
The findings of the study reveal that there is Ivarsson et al. 2005; Abada et al. 2008)
Table 3: Depression by bullying, gender, location and household income (N = 242)
Variable Total Gender Location Household income
Male Female Urban Rural Low High
N % n % n % n % n % n % n %
Depression
Non depressed 211 87.2 105 49.8 106 50.2 106 50.2 105 49.8 169 80.1 42 19.9
Depressed 31 12.8 14 45.2 17 54.8 11 35.5 20 64.5 24 77.4 7 22.6
Bullying
Non bully 123 50.8 52 42.3 71 57.7 67 54.5 56 45.5 96 78.1 27 21.9
Bully 119 49.2 67 56.3 52 43.7 50 42.1 69 57.9 97 81.5 22 18.5
20
Table 5: Comparison of mean scores for all variables of the study by gender
Scales n Mean SD
Bullying
Male 119 10.11 3.614
Female 123 8.75 2.712
Depression
Male 119 13.49 5.781
Female 123 13.11 6.129
Note: SD = Standard deviation; SE = Standard Error; Df = Degree of Freedom; MD = Mean Difference.
conducted outside Malaysia which found males
as more involved in bullying. Although, the simi-
larity in depression among males and females
found in the study was consistent with earlier
studies by Nolen-Hoeksema (1994) and William
et al. (2003). It was however inconsistent with
the findings of Maag and Irwin (2005); Crowe
et al. (2006); Adlina et al. (2007); Abada et al.
(2008); Abela and Hankin (2008) which found
dissimilarity among males and females in
depression.
On the relationship between bullying and
depression explored in the study, it was discov-
ered that there was a positive and significant
correlation between bullying and depression.
This implied that the higher the level of bullying
by teenagers, the higher the level of depression
suffered by them. These finding is consistent
with previous studies conducted by Craig (1998);
Seals and Young (2003); Viljoen, O’Neill and
Sidhu (2005); Grennan and Woodhams (2007)
that equally found positive and significant
correlation between bullying and teenage
depression. The finding of this study may be
explained within the purview of social learning
theory by Bandura (1977) which highlighted
differences in the socialization process between
males and females in the society. This social-
ization process may account for behavior model-
ing which explains why more males were invol-
ved in bullying. Differences abound between this
study and other previous studies because the
present study explored the socio-economic
background of bullies to ensure that intervent-
ions aimed at teenage bullies highlight the impo-
rtance of gender, location and household income
in the treatment of bullies. Bullying among
teenagers was highlighted in the study as a
concept capable of destroying teens given its ad-
verse consequences on their psychosocial health.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, bullying affects not just the
IKECHUKWU UBA, SITI NOR YAACOB AND RUMAYA JUHARI
SE Df MD t P
.331
.245 219 1.361 3.306 .001
.530
.553 240 .382 .498 .619
victims of bullying incidents, but also the bullies
themselves. It has been found that bullying leads
to the prediction of depression even among
bullies. The act equally leads to anti psycho-
social behaviours such as smoking, drinking and
involvement in violent behaviour in later life
(Smokowski and Kopasz 2005). Available data
indicates that the concept of bullying is on the
rise among teenagers (Kowalski 2003).
However, despite the alarming increase of
bullying incidents in most countries, strategic
policies has yet been implemented by countries
in combating the menace. Hitherto, bullies were
thought to be immune to depression, however
recently emerging studies suggest otherwise
(Nansel et al. 2001) including the current study.
The pathetic situation bullies find themselves
stems from the fact that symptoms of depression
for them remain latent and as such maybe very
difficult to diagnose. The implication of been
unable to diagnose depression among bullies
early maybe disastrous and in some situation
may lead to suicide by the bully. Therefore,
emotional support and care should be extended
not just to the victims of bullying incidents, but
also to bullies. In summary, the study has
contributed immensely to the body of knowledge
because it highlighted the fact that bullying and
victimization can become a vicious cycle of
misery for both bullies and their victims by
confirming the dangers of bullying even to
teenage bullies.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Bullying can practically destroy a bully,
particularly were it leads to depression. Prac-
titioners in primary care, parents and friends of
teenage bullies are therefore enjoined to report
cases of bullying to necessary government agen-
cies in their respective countries as a way to ensu-
re that bullies receive adequate care and support
before they cause pain and agony to themselves
BULLING AND IT’S RELATIONSHIP
and their loved ones. Findings of this study were
limited to the self report of bullying and depres-
sion by the teenage respondents of the study. The
study therefore suggests that future studies
should examine the report from family members
and peers of teenage bullies to facilitate the
diagnosis of depression among bullies and to
enable them receive medical attention on time.
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